Environment

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Not Even The Threat Of Spreading COVID-19 Can Change California’s Plastic Bag Ban

While several states are rethinking their single-use plastic bag bans for health reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic, California, which led the nation down the misguided path to prohibition, has yet to act. It should have been the first to suspend its ban. But here we wait while other states are ...
California

Gov. Newsom would rather take gas-tax money for bike lanes than fix California’s roads

When Senate Bill 1 was passed and signed into law in 2017, Californians were told the tax hikes it authorized were good for them. The revenues were to be dedicated to repairing the state’s lousy roads. Yet there have been numerous accountability and transparency questions about the law, enough that ...
Blog

Do you believe in ‘Miracle March?’

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice,” one of the biggest upsets in history when the United States hockey team beat the USSR in the semi-final game of the 1980 Winter Olympics. Anyone who watched the Olympics live or saw the 2004 movie Miracle remembers Al ...
Blog

Would Newsom’s Climate Catalyst Action Fund Fuel Second Coming of Solyndra?

Last week, California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s office was on a roll – releasing several, often-critical analyses of some of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s high profile budget proposals. Particularly pointed was its analysis of Newsom’s proposal to create a so-called “Climate Catalyst Action Fund.”  According to the administration’s budget documents, it “would ...
Agriculture

What We’re Watching – Lots of Free Market Ideas to Love on Valentine’s Day

Tim Anaya – Watch Sally Pipes on “After Words” on Saturday Night As part of the promotion of her latest book, PRI President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy Sally C. Pipes will appear on “After Words” on C-Span 2’s “Book TV” this Saturday night at ...
Blog

A Former Speechwriter’s View of the 2020 State of the Union

PRI is fortunate to be home to several former speechwriters for Presidents and Governors, including me. Anyone who has been a speechwriter watches a big public speech like this week’s State of the Union address or Gov. Newsom’s upcoming State of the State address on Feb. 19 with great interest ...
Agriculture

The City That Taxed Too Much

San Francisco has added yet another tax, this one to fund a climate initiative. Though maybe it’s an overused phrase, “death by a thousand tax hikes” is still a descriptive expression, and it applies here. The 1% surcharge being added to some diners’ checks at some restaurants is not actually ...
Energy

Wayne Winegarden in Heartland News Story on CA Solar Roof Mandate

California Solar Home Law Likely to Price Many Out of the Market By Kenneth Artz A new building code in California requires all newly constructed homes statewide to be solar-powered. Tens of thousands of homes will be affected by the first-of-their-kind rules approved in 2018 by the California Energy Commission under Gov. ...
Agriculture

Democratic Candidates Are Sorry for All the Wrong Things

When presidential candidate Joe Biden began a campaign tour with the slogan, “No Malarkey” (a seeming oxymoron for a politician), the rallying cry was contradicted by his many apologies for past actions and positions. Had he fashioned his expedition as a “No Apologies” tour, he doubtless would have done far ...
Climate Change

California Green New Deal embraces far left policy wish list under guise of saving the planet

Sacramento Democrats have drawn up a Green New Deal for California, which, the public is being told, is necessary to prevent a global warming crisis. The usual empty talking points that are poor substitutes for climate facts have been strung together to create an atmosphere of doom. But it’s obvious ...
Blog

Not Even The Threat Of Spreading COVID-19 Can Change California’s Plastic Bag Ban

While several states are rethinking their single-use plastic bag bans for health reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic, California, which led the nation down the misguided path to prohibition, has yet to act. It should have been the first to suspend its ban. But here we wait while other states are ...
California

Gov. Newsom would rather take gas-tax money for bike lanes than fix California’s roads

When Senate Bill 1 was passed and signed into law in 2017, Californians were told the tax hikes it authorized were good for them. The revenues were to be dedicated to repairing the state’s lousy roads. Yet there have been numerous accountability and transparency questions about the law, enough that ...
Blog

Do you believe in ‘Miracle March?’

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice,” one of the biggest upsets in history when the United States hockey team beat the USSR in the semi-final game of the 1980 Winter Olympics. Anyone who watched the Olympics live or saw the 2004 movie Miracle remembers Al ...
Blog

Would Newsom’s Climate Catalyst Action Fund Fuel Second Coming of Solyndra?

Last week, California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s office was on a roll – releasing several, often-critical analyses of some of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s high profile budget proposals. Particularly pointed was its analysis of Newsom’s proposal to create a so-called “Climate Catalyst Action Fund.”  According to the administration’s budget documents, it “would ...
Agriculture

What We’re Watching – Lots of Free Market Ideas to Love on Valentine’s Day

Tim Anaya – Watch Sally Pipes on “After Words” on Saturday Night As part of the promotion of her latest book, PRI President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy Sally C. Pipes will appear on “After Words” on C-Span 2’s “Book TV” this Saturday night at ...
Blog

A Former Speechwriter’s View of the 2020 State of the Union

PRI is fortunate to be home to several former speechwriters for Presidents and Governors, including me. Anyone who has been a speechwriter watches a big public speech like this week’s State of the Union address or Gov. Newsom’s upcoming State of the State address on Feb. 19 with great interest ...
Agriculture

The City That Taxed Too Much

San Francisco has added yet another tax, this one to fund a climate initiative. Though maybe it’s an overused phrase, “death by a thousand tax hikes” is still a descriptive expression, and it applies here. The 1% surcharge being added to some diners’ checks at some restaurants is not actually ...
Energy

Wayne Winegarden in Heartland News Story on CA Solar Roof Mandate

California Solar Home Law Likely to Price Many Out of the Market By Kenneth Artz A new building code in California requires all newly constructed homes statewide to be solar-powered. Tens of thousands of homes will be affected by the first-of-their-kind rules approved in 2018 by the California Energy Commission under Gov. ...
Agriculture

Democratic Candidates Are Sorry for All the Wrong Things

When presidential candidate Joe Biden began a campaign tour with the slogan, “No Malarkey” (a seeming oxymoron for a politician), the rallying cry was contradicted by his many apologies for past actions and positions. Had he fashioned his expedition as a “No Apologies” tour, he doubtless would have done far ...
Climate Change

California Green New Deal embraces far left policy wish list under guise of saving the planet

Sacramento Democrats have drawn up a Green New Deal for California, which, the public is being told, is necessary to prevent a global warming crisis. The usual empty talking points that are poor substitutes for climate facts have been strung together to create an atmosphere of doom. But it’s obvious ...
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